Curzan Anne, Emmons Kimberly (eds). Studies in the History of the English Language II: Unfolding Conversations

De Gruyter Mouton, 2004. — 513 p. — (Topics in English Linguistics [TiEL] 45). — ISBN10: 9783110180978, ASIN 3110180979.The volume contains selected papers from the SHEL-2 conference held at the University of Washington in Spring 2002. Scholars from North America and Europe address a broad spectrum of research topics in historical English linguistics, including new theories/methods such as Optimality Theory and corpus linguistics, and traditional fields such as phonology and syntax. In each of the four sections - Philology and linguistics; Corpus- and text-based studies; Constraint-based studies; and Dialectology - leading scholars respond directly to each other's arguments within the volume. The volume captures an ongoing conversation at the heart of historical English linguistics: the question of evidence and historical reconstruction.